Summary: Mrs X complained the Council delayed issuing building control approval. There was delay as it took over seven months for the application to be approved. This delayed Mrs X’s building work and caused frustration. The Council will make a payment to recognise the distress caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council delayed issuing building control approval.
2. She says this held up her building work by over a year.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision and I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Building regulation approval

7. Most building work requires building regulation approval. Building regulations set out requirements and guidance that builders and building owners are required to follow and consider. The purpose of the regulations is to make sure buildings are safe for those that use them or live around them.
8. A certificate of building regulations approval can be granted by councils acting as building control authorities, or by independent ‘approved’ inspectors. Councils employ building inspectors to carry out this work.
9. There are two ways a building owner can get building regulations approval. These are:

• Full plans application. The owner or their agent submits plans. The plans are checked for compliance with building regulations.
• Building notice application. The owner or their agent informs the Council or approved inspector of their intention to begin building work. The Council’s inspector or an independent approved inspector will visit the site at various stages of the work to check compliance with building regulations.

10. A full plans application requires the submission of plans for approval which are checked on site by an inspector. Decisions should be made within five weeks, or two months with the applicant’s consent. The Council will issue a completion certificate within eight weeks which states the work is compliant with the regulations.

Key facts

11. This section sets out the key events in this case and is not intended to be a detailed chronology.
12. Mr and Mrs X submitted a full plans building regulation application on 12 February 2024 along with payment of the application fee. The Council acknowledged receipt two weeks later on 26 February. On 8 March the Council sent a letter to Mr and Mrs X requesting information about sewerage. Mr and Mrs X say they sent this information immediately.
13. On 26 March Mr and Mrs X telephoned the Council querying progress as it was now six weeks since they submitted the application. The Council replied by email the following day stating an officer was looking at the application. Mr and Mrs X chased for progress again on 4 April.
14. On 10 April, the Council contacted Mr and Mrs X requesting changes. Then followed correspondence between the two parties. Mr and Mrs X say they provided the final updates to the Council by 23 April.
15. Mr and Mrs X continued to chase the Council regularly to chase progress on their application. On 14 May they lodged a formal complaint via the Council’s website. The Council did not acknowledge this. On 20 May Mr and Mrs provided details of changes which the Council had requested the previous day. Mr and Mrs X sent further chasing emails and on 19 June received the conditional approval for the works. The proposals still required approval of the structural calculations by the Council’s engineer which is why the approval was conditional.
16. Further chasing by Mr and Mrs X resulted in an email from the Council on 9 August acknowledging there was no correspondence on the file and that “it had far exceeded the timescale for a return from the engineers”. Mr and Mrs X contacted their councillor on 20 August about the delay and the failure to respond to the formal complaint lodged on 14 May. The calculations were approved and Mr and Mrs X notified on 9 September.
17. Mr and Mrs X contacted the Council on 14 September saying that even though their building control application was approved, their complaint still stood and asked the Council respond to it. The Council considered this email as a formal complaint. It said it would respond by 18 October extending this to 1 November and then 8 November. The Council sent the complaint response on 15 November.
18. The response accepted the Council had exceeded the five week target for determining applications and said that it had recently implemented new processes to address this. It apologised for the delays and poor communication saying this was due to resource issues.
19. Mr and Mrs X asked the Council to consider the complaint at the next stage of its complaint process. They made this request on 11 December and the Council responded on 23 January. It said that it dealt with the complaint dated 14 May in line with its policy as it sought to achieve local resolution. It said it achieved this because conditional approval was granted by 6 June.
20. It accepted the reasons for the delays in the application process should have been communicated to them. It acknowledged that the delays and lack of communication could be exasperating and have real impacts. It also acknowledged that improving processes did not benefit Mr and Mrs X directly. It refused Mr and Mrs X’s request for compensation saying there were justifiable reasons for the delays and the application was ultimately approved.

Analysis

21. A building control full plans application should be determined within five weeks. Mr and Mrs X submitted their application in February 2024 but it was not fully determined until September 2024. This was a significant delay and amounts to fault. I am pleased to note the Council accepted faut when dealing with Mr and Mrs X’s complaint.
22. It was not until Mr and Mrs X contacted an elected councillor that the application was approved. This is despite Mr and Mrs X making regular contact to chase progress. The Council says that it dealt with the complaint submitted on 14 May informally, in line with its procedure. However, it did not explain this to Mr and Mrs X which frustrated them.
23. When the Council accepted an email from Mr and Mrs X as a formal complaint in September 2024, it then delayed in dealing with this. I note the Council twice contacted Mr and Mrs X explaining the response was delayed however the delay added to their frustration.
24. Mr and Mrs X say that their building work was delayed until June 2025. They says the builder moved onto other jobs when the application was not determined within the expected five week period. It was then not appropriate to start the work during the winter months. Mr and Mrs X say the delay meant the cost of the work has increased. They consider the Council should provide some financial redress.
25. I consider Mr and Mrs X have suffered distress as a result of the fault identified in this case. The Council also acknowledged this but declined to offer any financial remedy. The Council did provide the service Mr and Mrs X paid for as it did determine the application. However, the delays and lack of communication caused distress and so consider a payment should be made to recognise this.

Action

26. To remedy the injustice caused as a result of the faults identified in this case, the Council will, within one month of my final decision, make a symbolic payment of £250 to recognise the distress and frustration experienced.
27. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.
28. I am satisfied the Council has already identified learning from this complaint and made appropriate changes to ensure similar problems do not occur again. Therefore, it is not necessary for me to make any further service improvement recommendations.

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Decision

29. I have completed my investigation with a finding of fault for the reasons explained in this statement. The Council has agreed to implement the actions I have recommended. These appropriately remedy any injustice caused by fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman